Solomon and His Bride Extol Each Other

1“[†]Where has your beloved gone,

O most beautiful among women?

Where has your beloved turned,

That we may seek him with you?”

2“[†]My beloved has gone down to his garden,

To the beds of spices,

To shepherd his flock in the gardens

And gather lilies.

3I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,

He who shepherds his flock among the lilies.”

4“[†]You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,

As lovely as Jerusalem,

As majestic as [†]an army with banners.

5Turn your eyes away from me,

For they have overwhelmed me;

Your hair is like a flock of goats

That have leapt down from Gilead.

6Your teeth are like a flock of ewes

Which have come up from their washing,

All of which bear twins,

And not one among them has [†]lost her young.

7Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranate

Behind your veil.

8There are sixty queens and eighty concubines,

And [†]maidens without number;

9She is the only one—my dove, my perfect one;

She is the only one of her mother;

She is the pure one of her who bore her.

The daughters saw her and called her blessed,

The queens and the concubines also, and they praised her, saying,

10‘Who is this that looks down like the dawn,

As beautiful as the full moon,

As pure as the sun,

As majestic as [†]an army with banners?’

11[†]I went down to the garden of nut trees

To see the blossoms of the valley,

To see whether the vine had flourished

Or the pomegranates had bloomed.

12I did not know it, but my soul set me

Among the chariots of [†]my noble people.”

13“[†]<,>[†]Come back, come back, O Shulammite;

Come back, come back, that we may behold you!”

“[†]Why should you behold the Shulammite,

As at the dance of [†]the two companies?